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The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) alerted transplant centres to the problem last Friday, after being told about "probable contamination" by BMS that day.

Some 1,500 people undergo kidney transplants every year in Britain while some 700 people receive a replacement liver. There are about 250 pancreas recipients and 30 to 40 bowel transplants annually.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer for England, said transplant centres should continue using the solution for the time being, because there was "no evidence" it caused problems in patients.

She said: "Our priority is to ensure patients are safe. There is currently no evidence of any problems in patients who have recently had transplants where Viaspan has been used.

"If we were to recall the product immediately it is clear that patients would suffer and some may die.

"The manufacturer has advised that where necessary, Viaspan can continue to be used until Transplant Teams have stocks of alternative products and patients can be prescribed an antibiotic known to be effective against the contaminant as a precaution."

She continued: "We are now working urgently to source alternative products."

Viaspan is the most widely used solution for storing and transporting abdominal organs, according to Professor Roger Williams, the liver specialist, and director of the Institute of Hepatology.

A spokesman for BMS said the recall could result in "a temporary out of stock situation" for Viaspan.

She said: "As there are alternative solutions for organ preservation available within the UK, we recommend that transplantation centres source and use one of these alternatives until the investigation has been satisfactorily concluded and normal supply can be resumed."

The Department of Health said alternative solutions are available to use for kidney transplants.

One is Soltran (also known as Marshall's Solution), which is available in the UK.

Two further solutions - Celsior and HTK - have been identified to maintain the viability of pancreatic, liver and bowel transplants.

The department said neither has a kite mark in the UK for organ preservation.

However, on Thursday night the MHRA authorised both products for human use.